Second Annual Alice T. Schafer Prize

In 1990, the Executive Committee of the Association for Women in
Mathematics (AWM) established the annual Alice T. Schafer Prize for
excellence in mathematics by an undergraduate woman. The prize is named
for former AWM president and one of its founding members, Alice T. Schafer
(Professor Emerita from Wellesley College), who has contributed a great
deal to women in mathematics throughout her career. The criteria for
selection includes, but is not limited to, the quality of the nominees'
performance in mathematics courses and special programs, an exhibition of
real interest in mathematics, the ability to do independent work, and if
applicable, performance in mathematical competitions.

In addition to the Schafer Prize winner, AWM
is pleased to recognize Zvezdelina Stankova, a junior at Bryn Mawr College,
who was nominated and selected as runner-up in the Schafer Prize competition.
AWM is also pleased to recognize the eight outstanding women who were
nominated for the Schafer Prize and given Honorable Mention:
Sarah Marie Belcastro (senior, Haverford College), Debra Boutin (senior, Smith College),
Cheryl Grood (junior, University of Michigan), Karen King (senior, Spelman College),
Speranta Marcu (senior, Santa Clara University), Edith Mooers (senior, University of Washington),
Jessica Polito (junior, Harvard University), and Diana Thomas (senior, University of Montana).

Two nominees were given special recognition by the Prize
Committee for their outstanding achievements in mathematics so early in
their careers: Yick Chan, a sophomore at Barnard College, and Millie Niss,
a first-year student at Columbia University.

Schafer Prize Winner: Jeanne Nielsen

Jeanne Nielsen was described as a "highly original, enthusiastic, and
talented young mathematician" and one of the best undergraduate mathematics
majors her nominators had seen anywhere. Nielsen began to show promise as
a research mathematician the summer after her sophomore year when she
obtained results in finite group theory which have been submitted for publication.
More recently, her interest in algebraic and differential geometry has
yielded some impressive research results there. Professor Robert Bryant,
in his letter nominating her for the prize, said, "Her mathematical maturity
and insight are astonishing." Nielsen received an Honorable Mention in
this year's Putnam exam, a national mathematics competition for undergraduates,
finishing 30th out of 2347 contestants.

Runner-Up: Zvezdelina Stankova

Zvezdelina Stankova is on a full scholarship at Bryn Mawr College, having
won a competition in Bulgaria to identify gifted students to study in the
United States. As a high school student she participated in the
International Mathematics Olympiad on the Bulgarian team; she won silver
medals in 1987 and 1988. Stankova finished 101st in the 1991 Putnam
Competition. Next year, her senior year at Bryn Mawr, she will be taking
graduate courses at the University of Pennsylvania and hopes to graduate
with both a bachelor's and a master's degree in mathematics. "One of the
brightest young people I have ever known, Zvezde is truly a star, as her
name suggests," said Professor Rhonda Hughes in her nomination letter.

Honorable Mention: Sarah Marie Belcastro

Sarah Marie Belcastro is a senior at Haverford College. She has written a
senior thesis in algebraic combinatorics and a paper with Gary Sherman
based on her participation in a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)
program at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Honorable Mention: Debra Boutin

Debra Boutin is a senior at Smith College. In joint work with Michael
Albertson of the Smith faculty, she has written a research paper in graph
theory. She is also thirty-something and a single parent.

Honorable Mention: Cheryl Grood

Cheryl Grood is a junior at the University of Michigan who has successfully
completed some very demanding courses in the Department. She participated
in an REU program at Rose-Hulman in 1990, and this resulted in a paper in
computational group theory.

Honorable Mention: Karen King

Karen King is a senior at Spelman College and will begin graduate work at
the University of Maryland in the fall. She has been engaged in research
projects on coding theory at NASA and at Spelman. She gave talks at the
Conference on Undergraduate Research at Caltech and at a meeting of the
Mathematical Association of America in the spring.

Honorable Mention: Speranta Marcu

Speranta Marcu is a senior at Santa Clara University. Her results in a
summer research project were presented at the Conference on Undergraduate
Research at Caltech in March.

Honorable Mention: Edith Mooers

Edith Mooers is a senior at the University of Washington who, to quote her
nominating faculty member, "performed at a stellar level" in an advanced
Lie theory course. She has participated in an REU program at the University
of Washington, as a result of which she has written a research paper with the
conference organizers.

Honorable Mention: Jessica Polito

Jessica Polito is a junior at Harvard University who has taken Harvard's
accelerated program with great success and is at the level of some of the
first year graduate students. She was one of the top 200 in the 1991
Putnam Competition.

Honorable Mention: Diana Thomas

Diana Thomas is a senior at the University of Montana. She is writing a
senior thesis on fluid flows and turbulences. Her work resulting from an
REU program at the University of Colorado (Boulder) was presented at the
Conference on Undergraduate Research at Caltech in March.

Special Recognition: Yick Chan

Yick Chan is a sophomore at Barnard College who won the annual mathematics
prize competition at Barnard/Columbia: her answer to one of the problems
is described as "more enlightening than the answer designed by the creators
of the exam." She is described by a Barnard faculty member as "the most
talented undergraduate we have seen at Barnard in my 17 years here."

Special Recognition: Millie Niss

Millie Niss is a first-year student at Columbia University. She wrote a
research paper in combinatorics in her very first semester. She is
described by a faculty member as the "strongest undergraduate student I
have ever worked with, irrespective of year, sex, or any other arbitrary
category."